


We Are Not Gods

by TheTimeTraveler24



Series: Riordanverse One-Shots [11]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: COVID19, Coronavirus, Doctor Will Solace, Doctors & Physicians, Gen, Implied Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, One Shot, Pandemics, Religion, Will Solace is a Ball of Sunshine, thank you all healthcare workers, we love and appreciate you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTimeTraveler24/pseuds/TheTimeTraveler24
Summary: "Who asked us to play gods?""Every damn patient who comes through that door, that's who. People come to doctors because they want us to be gods."
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Will Solace & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Riordanverse One-Shots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1887385
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83
Collections: Nine Billion Names





	We Are Not Gods

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [NineBillion](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/NineBillion) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> "Who asked you to play God?"
> 
> "Every damn patient who comes through that door, that's who. People come to doctors because they want us to be gods."

The new guy was way too upbeat, Kiersten Wheatley decided. Yeah, okay, so maybe the new ones were usually upbeat for the first week before the mental, emotional, and physical stress wore them down, but it had been a month now and still the guy would _not_ stop _smiling._

Smiling was a relative term. It wasn’t like she could actually see the smile behind the guy’s mask, but she could see in his eyes and hear in his voice the smile that was definitely concealed.

Ugh. She really needed to learn the guy’s name. So far, all she called him was _the guy_ or Doctor Sunshine. He was cute as far as Kiersten could tell. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and such a sweetheart. Just… too happy.

They were all putting on a show for the patients. Cheerful hellos and conversations as they sat with the patients. Brave faces as they held the patients’ hands. The real emotions weren’t allowed out until afterwards. When they were alone in their cars, at home, or in the empty room after the patient’s body had been wheeled away.

_Damn this virus,_ Kiersten thought.

“You okay?”

Kiersten turned around. Doctor Sunshine was standing there. His eyebrows were furrowed and his blue eyes shone with concern.

“Is anyone?” she asked.

His shoulders fell. “No. I guess not. But we’re all trying our best.”

“Our best isn’t enough,” Kiersten said. “We’re supposed to save lives. We’re supposed to be gods.”

Blue eyes tilted his head. “Who asked us to play gods?”

“Every damn patient who comes through that door, that’s who,” Kiersten said. “People come to doctors because they want us to be gods.”

“I’m certainly not a god,” Doctor Sunshine said. There was a tone of amusement in his voice. If Kiersten could see his mouth, he’d probably be smirking.

“Neither am I, but here we are.”

“Here we are.”

Kiersten looked at him. “Why do you always seem so… happy? Cheerful? Now of all times? How do you do it?”

The guy shrugged. “Now of all times… With the whole world in a lock down and fighting a pandemic… isn’t that the perfect time to stay cheerful? Smiles and good feelings are contagious. I’m working here with a thousand patients who are sick and in pain. And I know half of them aren’t going to leave here alive. Their families are never going to see them again. I’ve been on that end too many times to count. I would have appreciated it if I knew someone was making sure the people I cared about spent their last hours smiling.”

“Sorry,” Kiersten muttered. “I didn’t know.”

“Long time ago,” blue eyes said.

“Who was it?” Kiersten asked before she could stop herself. There was something about this guy that made it so easy to talk to.

“Two of my half-brothers,” the guy said. “They died when I was twelve and thirteen. I couldn’t save them. Couldn’t save my friends who died either.”

Kiersten almost asked if he had been in a school shooting when he was younger, but that was probably beyond the limits of their relationship. She didn’t even know the guy’s name yet.

She glanced at the nametag. _Will Solace._ That answered that question.

“I’m sorry,” Kiersten repeated. “I lost my grandparents when I was ten. It’s hard losing people when you’re that young.”

“It is,” Will Solace agreed. “But you have to remember we aren’t gods. We’re only human. You can’t save everybody. Some deaths can’t be prevented.”

Kiersten snorted. “What, like God’s planned out who dies?”

“Someone has,” Will said. “Maybe God, maybe gods, maybe _a_ god.”

“I don’t believe in any god,” Kiersten said. “If there was some divine entity out there, how could he let this happen? A million people are dead and we’re well on our way to doubling that. And no one cares that day in and day out, we’re the ones who are watching that happen. They don’t want to follow safety precautions or do what will save us all. And we suffer for that. And innocent people suffer for that. If there was a god out there, he wouldn’t let this happen. Not if he cared for us.”

Will didn’t say anything for a while. “If there’s a god, then there’s monsters too. When good things happen, people are quick to praise God or the gods or whatever they believe in. When the bad things happen, they’re quick to reject. Maybe you should start thinking about it like the gods and monsters locked in a never ending fight. Sometimes the gods win and sometimes they lose. When they lose, that’s when the heroes have to step in.”

“I’m not a hero.”

“Who’s a hero then?” Will asked.

Kiersten huffed. “I don’t know. Harry Potter? Luke Skywalker? The Avengers?”

“Heroes who fought a great evil despite the odds,” Will said. “Yeah, you’re right. That doesn’t sound at all like what us doctors are doing everyday.”

“Okay, point,” Kiersten said.

“We’re not gods,” Will said. “We’re heroes. Sometimes heroes lose. Sometimes we win. But when we lose, we keep fighting because it’s the right thing to do and you don’t save lives by giving up. And Kiersten,” he added.

Kiersten looked up. “You know my name?”

“It’s on your nametag,” Will pointed out.

Kiersten flushed. “Right. What?”

“Even heroes need someone to talk to or vent to,” Will said. “Believe me. Talking helps. A lot. My boyfriend and some friends of ours went through something pretty bad a few years ago. Talking helped them. You got anyone to talk to?”

Kiersten shook her head.

“You can talk to me,” Will offered. “But don’t let my sunny demeanor fool you. Apparently I can explode and get mad and I’m as fiery as the sun.”

“I’d be happy to explode with you.”

Will snorted. “Not literally, I hope.”

“God, no.” She looked at Will. “Do you miss them? Your boyfriend and your friends,” she clarified.

Will looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, FaceTime and Zoom are nice and all, but… It’s not the same as in person,” Kiersten said. “Do you miss seeing them face to face?”

Will’s expression cleared. “Oh.” He looked away and then back at her. “Yeah. I miss them. But better we stay apart than risk bringing it hope, right?”

Kiersten couldn’t help noticing Will didn’t seem entirely truthful. He almost seemed guilty.

“I should get back to work,” Will said quickly. “Nice talking to you, Kiersten.” He took off down the hall.

“You too,” Kiersten muttered.

Will Solace was strange, but a good strange, she decided. And maybe he was just the right amount of cheerful.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hello, yes, it's me. So... I do not work in healthcare. I have not had anyone within my immediate family get sick with COVID (knock on wood). So I don't know if this is an accurate representation of what our doctors and nurses are facing right now. But I do know that their jobs really suck right now because I cannot even imagine going into work everyday knowing you're probably going to be holding multiple people's hands as they die.
> 
> So kudos to them for getting up everyday. I appreciate you and applaud you and I hope we can get these vaccines working and distributed to everyone soon to make your jobs easier.
> 
> To address that piece at the end, I think ambrosia and nectar can probably heal (maybe cure?) demigods that contract the virus. Either way, Will feels guilty because he has a way to heal himself and he doesn't need to worry about Nico or his friends getting sick because it's a simple cure for demigods.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys liked this!


End file.
